1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to image forming apparatuses, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus having a section-based management function of limiting prints more than a printable number based on preset reservation conditions.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of conventional multi-job printing machines, Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-66585 (Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 60-218668) for example discloses a technique according to which if the total of the number of bins necessary for a new job at the time of reserving the job plus the number of bins necessary for already reserved jobs exceeds the number of bins available, the already printed number is sequentially decremented from the remaining number counter which stores the printable number, the printing operation is stopped if the remaining number counter indicates 0, and the user is warned of the state.
In such a conventional copying machine as described above, the counter value of the remaining number counter is sequentially decremented by the printed number by an actual copying operation, which is stopped if the remaining counter is 0, and therefore a new job cannot be started at that point.